Information processing apparatus, information processing method and information processing program

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus manages operation of an autonomous vehicle that delivers a package. The information processing apparatus includes a control section that before the autonomous vehicle arrives at a basic delivery destination that is an original delivery destination of the package, acquires a location, at a planned delivery time of the package, of a user that receives the package, and where the location is different from the basic delivery destination, transmits an instruction for delivering the package to the location to the autonomous vehicle.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. application Ser.No. 16/812,730 filed on Mar. 9, 2020, which claims priority to JapanesePatent Application No. 2019-058468 filed on Mar. 26, 2019 including thespecification, drawings and abstract, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, aninformation processing method and an information processing program.

2. Description of Related Art

In recent years, techniques for transporting packages, users and thelike via, e.g., a vehicle or train that can autonomously travel havebeen developed. For example, Japanese Patent No. 6164599 proposes atechnique for making a vehicle with a package loaded thereinautonomously travel to a delivery locker at a delivery destination andputting the package loaded in the vehicle into the delivery locker.

SUMMARY

Here, for example, like in the case where no reception equipment such asa delivery locker is provided at a delivery destination of a package,where a user (e.g., a recipient himself/herself, a member of therecipient's family or a colleague of the recipient) receives a packagehimself/herself, the user needs to wait at a delivery destination untilcompletion of reception of the package. Movement of the user isrestricted for this reason, which may result in a decrease inconvenience for the user. Also, where the user moves from the deliverydestination, delivering the package again, what is called “redelivery”,is necessary, which may cause a decrease in delivery efficiency.

The present disclosure has been made in view of the aforementionedactual circumstances and an object of the present disclosure is toprovide a technique enabling, where a package is delivered using anautonomous vehicle, curbing a decrease in convenience for a user whoreceives a package and a decrease in delivery efficiency for theautonomous vehicle.

The present disclosure provides an information processing apparatus formanaging operation of an autonomous vehicle that delivers a package. Theapparatus includes a control section that before the autonomous vehiclearrives at a basic delivery destination that is an original deliverydestination of the package, acquires a location, at a planned deliverytime of the package, of a user that receives the package, and where thelocation is different from the basic delivery destination, transmits aninstruction for delivering the package to the location to the autonomousvehicle.

The present disclosure can be regarded as providing an informationprocessing method for managing operation of an autonomous vehicle thatdelivers a package. In such case, the information processing methodaccording to the present disclosure may be a method including causing acomputer to perform a step of, before the autonomous vehicle arrives ata basic delivery destination that is an original delivery destination ofthe package, acquiring a location, at a planned delivery time of thepackage, of a user that receives the package and a step of, where thelocation is different from the basic delivery destination, transmittingan instruction for delivering the package to the location to theautonomous vehicle.

The present disclosure can be regarded as providing an informationprocessing program for managing operation of an autonomous vehicle thatdelivers a package or a non-transitory storage medium storing theinformation processing program. The information processing program insuch case may be a program causing a computer to perform a step of,before the autonomous vehicle arrives at a basic delivery destinationthat is an original delivery destination of the package, acquiring alocation, at a planned delivery time of the package, of a user thatreceives the package and a step of, where the location is different fromthe basic delivery destination, transmitting an instruction fordelivering the package to the location to the autonomous vehicle.

The present disclosure enables, where a package is delivered using anautonomous vehicle, curbing a decrease in convenience for a user thatreceives the package and a decrease in delivery efficiency for theautonomous vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments will be described below with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like elements, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a systemthat provides a transportation service using an autonomous vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating exampleconfigurations of the autonomous vehicle and a server apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of anoperation plan information table;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing performed inthe server apparatus when managing operation of the autonomous vehicleused as a package delivery vehicle in an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a first flowchart illustrating the flow of processingperformed in the server apparatus when managing operation of theautonomous vehicle used as a package delivery vehicle in an alteration;and

FIG. 6 is a second flowchart illustrating the flow of processingperformed in the server apparatus when managing operation of theautonomous vehicle used as a package delivery vehicle in the alteration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure provides an information processing apparatus thatmanages operation of an autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle to bemanaged by the information processing apparatus is a vehicle that canautonomously travel on a road. Where a package is delivered by suchautonomous vehicle, there is no need for a driver to ride in thevehicle, enabling reduction in cost of transportation of the package.

However, for example, like in the case where no reception equipment suchas a delivery locker is provided at a delivery destination of a package,where a user (e.g., a recipient of a package, a member of therecipient's family or a colleague of the recipient) needs to receive apackage himself/herself, the user needs to wait at a deliverydestination in order to receive the package, which may restrict movementof the user. Also, where the user moves from the delivery destinationbefore reception of the package, it is necessary to redeliver thepackage. Consequently, convenience for the user may be decreased anddelivery efficiency for the autonomous vehicle may be decreased.

Therefore, the information processing apparatus according to the presentdisclosure acquires a location, at a planned delivery time of thepackage, of a user that receives a package (hereinafter may also bereferred to as “user location”) before an autonomous vehicle arrives atan original delivery destination (basic delivery destination) of thepackage. Examples of the “before an autonomous vehicle arrives at abasic delivery destination” mentioned here include, e.g., a timing atwhich time left before the planned delivery time of the package becomesno more than a predetermined length of time, a timing at which aposition of the autonomous vehicle enters a range that is apredetermined distance from the basic delivery destination and a timingat which the autonomous vehicle departs from a predetermined departurepoint (for example, a distribution center or a delivery destination of apackage delivered last) toward the basic delivery destination. If theuser location thus acquired is different from the basic deliverydestination, a control section transmits an instruction for deliveringthe package to the user location to the autonomous vehicle.Consequently, the autonomous vehicle can change the delivery destinationof the package from the basic delivery destination to the user location.Then, the user can receive the package delivered to the user location bythe autonomous vehicle. Therefore, according to the present disclosure,even where a user moves from a basic delivery destination of a packagebefore reception of the package, it is possible to deliver the packageto a destination of the movement, enabling curbing of restrictingmovement of the user and an autonomous vehicle performing redelivery. Asa result, a decrease in convenience for the user and a decrease indelivery efficiency for the autonomous vehicle are also curbed.

Note that if the user location is excessively distant from an originalplanned travel route including the basic delivery destination, theautonomous vehicle delivering the package to the user location mayresult in a decrease in delivery efficiency for the autonomous vehiclebecause too much time is taken for delivery of the package. Therefore,the control section may further acquire the planned travel route that isa route on which the autonomous vehicle is planned to travel, andtransmit an instruction for cancelling delivery of the package, to theautonomous vehicle unless the user location is within a predeterminedrange from the planned travel route. In other words, if the userlocation is different from the basic delivery destination, the controlsection may transmit an instruction for delivering the package to theuser location to the autonomous vehicle under the condition that theuser location is within a predetermined range from the planned travelroute. Consequently, it is possible to deliver the package to the userlocation to the extent that a decrease in delivery efficiency for theautonomous vehicle can be curbed. Note that the “predetermined range”mentioned here is a range determined such that even if the deliverydestination of the package is changed from the basic deliverydestination to the user location, no problem occurs in package deliveryservice, etc. Examples of such predetermined range include, e.g., arange in which a distance between the planned travel route and the userlocation is not longer than a predetermined distance, a range in which adistance between the basic delivery destination and the user location isnot longer than a predetermined distance and a range in which anincrease in time necessary for the change of the delivery destination ofthe package from the basic delivery destination to the user location isnot longer than a predetermined length of time.

Also, where the user location is different from the basic deliverydestination, a situation where the user rides in another autonomousvehicle that is different from the autonomous vehicle that delivers thepackage is conceivable. In such situation, the user location movestogether with the other autonomous vehicle. Therefore, the controlsection may determine a meeting point and a meeting time of meetingbetween the autonomous vehicle that delivers the package and the otherautonomous vehicle that the user rides in and transmit an instructionintended to cause the autonomous vehicle and the other autonomousvehicle to meet at the meeting point at the meeting time to theautonomous vehicle and the other autonomous vehicle. In such case, uponreception of the instruction from the control section, the autonomousvehicle and the other autonomous vehicle can meet at the meeting pointat the meeting time. As a result, when the autonomous vehicle and theother autonomous vehicle meet, the package can be delivered from theautonomous vehicle to the user. Note that if the other autonomousvehicle that the user rides in is a vehicle that operates on aprescribed route according to a prescribed time schedule such as atransit bus, the meeting point and the meeting time may be determinedbased on the operation route and an operation time schedule of the otherautonomous vehicle. Consequently, the package can be delivered from theautonomous vehicle to the user with no problem in operation of the otherautonomous vehicle.

A specific embodiment of the present disclosure will be described belowwith reference to the drawings. Dimensions, materials, shapes, relativedispositions, etc., of the components described in the presentembodiment are not intended to limit the technical scope of thedisclosure only thereto unless specifically stated.

EMBODIMENT

The present embodiment will be described in terms of an example in whichthe present disclosure is applied to a transportation service in whichpackages are delivered using an autonomous vehicle.

System Overview

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a systemthat provides transportation services using an autonomous vehicle(hereinafter may also be referred to as “transportation system”). Thesystem illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an autonomous vehicle 100 thatautonomously travels according to a provided operation instruction and aserver apparatus 200 that issues an operation instruction to theautonomous vehicle 100. Note that although in the example illustrated inFIG. 1 , only one autonomous vehicle 100 is illustrated, a plurality ofautonomous vehicles 100 may be included in the transportation system.

The autonomous vehicle 100 is a vehicle that can autonomously travel ona road. The autonomous vehicle 100 is, for example, a transit bus thattransports users on a predetermined route, an on-demand taxi thatoperates on a route according to a request from a user, a packagedelivery vehicle that delivers a package to a designated deliverydestination or a stay-type passenger transportation vehicle (forexample, a vehicle with, e.g., a hotel facility or a work space providedinside) that operates on a route according to a request from a user.Each of the above types of autonomous vehicles 100 does not necessarilyneed to be a vehicle that no person other than passengers rides in. Forexample, service personnel who take care of passengers, securitypersonnel who ensure security of the autonomous vehicle 100 and/orpickup and delivery personnel who load and unload packages may ride inthe vehicle. Also, the autonomous vehicle 100 does not necessarily needto be a vehicle that can completely autonomously travel but may be avehicle that allows driving personnel to drive or assists in driving thevehicle as the situation demands. Note that in the present example, apackage delivery vehicle mainly intended to deliver a package to adesignated delivery destination is taken as an example of the autonomousvehicle 100 to which the present disclosure is applied.

The server apparatus 200 is an apparatus that manages and controlsoperation of the autonomous vehicle 100 and corresponds to the“information processing apparatus” according to the present disclosure.For example, where the autonomous vehicle 100 is a package deliveryvehicle, the server apparatus 200 acquires a delivery destination ofeach package and then transmits an operation instruction intended tocause to the autonomous vehicle 100 to “travel to a predetermined spotand deliver the package” to the autonomous vehicle 100. Consequently,upon reception of the operation instruction from the server apparatus200, the autonomous vehicle 100 can travel toward the deliverydestination of the package. Note that the operation instruction is notlimited to one that designates a delivery destination of a package. Forexample, the server apparatus 200 can acquire a package pickupdestination and transmit an operation instruction intended to cause theautonomous vehicle 100 to “travel to a predetermined spot and pick up apackage” to the autonomous vehicle 100.

Also, the server apparatus 200 has a function that changes a deliverydestination of a package according to a location, at a planned deliverytime, of a user that receives the package (e.g., a recipient of thepackage, a family member of the recipient or a colleague of therecipient) (user location). For example, the server apparatus 200acquires a user location that is a location, at a planned delivery time,of a user that receives a package (hereinafter may also be referred toas “receiving user”) at a predetermined timing before the autonomousvehicle 100 arrives at a basic delivery destination that is an originaldelivery destination of the package (for example, a delivery destinationdesignated when a procedure for sending the package was performed), andif the acquired user location is different from the basic deliverydestination, transmits an instruction for changing the deliverydestination of the package from the basic delivery destination to theuser location to the autonomous vehicle 100.

System Configuration

Next, components of the autonomous vehicle 100 in the present examplewill be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematicallyillustrating example configurations of the autonomous vehicle 100 andthe server apparatus 200 illustrated in FIG. 1 . Note that in theexample illustrated in FIG. 2 , only one autonomous vehicle 100 isillustrated but there may be a plurality of autonomous vehicles 100subject to the control of the server apparatus 200.

As described above, the autonomous vehicle 100 is a vehicle thatautonomously travels on a road according to an operation instructionacquired from the server apparatus 200. The autonomous vehicle 100includes, e.g., a surrounding status detection sensor 101, a positioninformation acquisition section 102, a control section 103, a drivesection 104 and a communication section 105. The autonomous vehicle 100in the present example is an electric vehicle to be driven with anelectric motor as a prime mover. The prime mover of the autonomousvehicle 100 is not limited to an electric motor but may be an internalcombustion engine or a hybrid mechanism of an internal combustion engineand an electric motor.

The surrounding status detection sensor 101 is means for sensing thesurroundings of the vehicle and typically includes a stereo camera, alaser scanner, a LIDAR and/or a radar. Information acquired by thesurrounding status detection sensor 101 is provided to the controlsection 103.

The position information acquisition section 102 is means for acquiringa current position of the autonomous vehicle 100 and typically includes,e.g., a GPS receiver. Note that the position information acquisitionsection 102 acquires a current position of the autonomous vehicle 100 ina predetermined cycle and provides information on the acquired currentposition to the control section 103. In response, each time the controlsection 103 receives position information from the position informationacquisition section 102, the control section 103 transmits the positioninformation to the server apparatus 200. In other words, the positioninformation of the autonomous vehicle 100 is transmitted from theautonomous vehicle 100 to the server apparatus 200 in a predeterminedcycle. Consequently, the server apparatus 200 can grasp the currentposition of the autonomous vehicle 100.

The drive section 104 is means for making the autonomous vehicle 100travel based on an instruction generated by a travel control section1033. The drive section 104 includes, for example, a prime mover (e.g.,an internal combustion engine, an electric motor or a hybrid mechanismof an internal combustion engine and an electric motor), a brakingdevice and a steering device.

The communication section 105 is communication means for connecting theautonomous vehicle 100 to a network. In the present embodiment, thecommunication section 105 can perform communication with anotherapparatus (for example, the server apparatus 200) via a network using amobile communication service such as 3G (3rd Generation) or LTE (LongTerm Evolution). Note that the communication section 105 may furtherinclude communication means for vehicle-to-vehicle communication withanother autonomous vehicle 100. For example, the communication section105 transmits, e.g., current position information of the relevantvehicle, the current position information being acquired by the positioninformation acquisition section 102, or an operation plan generated byan operation plan generation section 1031 to the server apparatus 200.Also, each time delivery of a package is completed, the communicationsection 105 transmits information on the completion of delivery of thepackage to the server apparatus 200.

The control section 103 is a computer that controls operation of theautonomous vehicle 100 based on information acquired from thesurrounding status detection sensor 101 or controls a travelling statusof the autonomous vehicle 100 according to an operation instruction fromthe server apparatus 200. The control section 103 includes, for example,a microcomputer. The control section 103 of the present example includesthe operation plan generation section 1031, an environment detectionsection 1032 and the travel control section 1033 as functional modules.Each functional module may be implemented by causing a CPU (centralprocessing unit) to execute a program stored in storage means such as aROM (read-only memory) (none of these components illustrated).

The operation plan generation section 1031 acquires an operationinstruction from the server apparatus 200 and generates an operationplan for the relevant vehicle. In the present embodiment, “operationplan” refers to data prescribing a route for the autonomous vehicle 100to travel and processing to be performed by the autonomous vehicle 100for a part or an entirety of the route. Examples of the data included inthe operation plan include the following.

(1) Data representing a route on which the autonomous vehicle 100 isplanned to travel (planned travel route) by means of a collection ofroad links. The “planned travel route” mentioned here may be generatedby, for example, the operation plan generation section 1031 based on adelivery start site and a delivery destination provided by the operationinstruction from the server apparatus 200, with reference to map datastored in a storage device mounted in the autonomous vehicle 100. Also,the “planned travel route” may be generated using an external service ormay be provided from the server apparatus 200. (2) Data representingprocessing to be performed by the autonomous vehicle 100 at an arbitrarypoint on the planned travel route. The “arbitrary spot” mentioned hereis, for example, a delivery start site such as a distribution center, apackage delivery destination or a package pickup destination. Then,examples of the processing to be performed by the autonomous vehicle 100at an arbitrary point such as mentioned above include “loading apackage” and “unloading a package”, but is not limited to theseexamples. (3) Data representing a planned time of departure or arrivalof the autonomous vehicle 100 from or at an arbitrary point on theplanned travel route. Examples of the planned time of departure orarrival of the autonomous vehicle 100 from or at an arbitrary point onthe planned travel route include “planned time of departure from adelivery start site”, “planned time of arrival at a deliverydestination” and “planned time for arrival at a pickup destination”, butare not limited to these examples.

Here, information on the operation plan generated by the operation plangeneration section 1031 is transmitted to the server apparatus 200 viathe communication section 105. In other words, the operation planinformation is transmitted from the autonomous vehicle 100 to the serverapparatus 200 when the operation plan is generated by the autonomousvehicle 100. Consequently, it becomes possible for the server apparatus200 to grasp the operation plan of the autonomous vehicle 100.

The environment detection section 1032 detects an environmentsurrounding the vehicle based on the data acquired by the surroundingstatus detection sensor 101. Examples of the subject of the detectioninclude, e.g., the number and positions of lanes, the number andpositions of vehicles present around the relevant vehicle, the numberand positions of obstacles present around the relevant vehicle (forexample, pedestrians, bicycles, structures and buildings), a structureof the road and road signs but are not limited to these examples. Thesubject of the detection may be anything that is necessary forautonomous traveling. Also, the environment detection section 1032 maytrack a detected object. For example, a relative speed of an objectdetected one step before may be obtained from a difference betweencoordinates of the object and current coordinates of the object.

The travel control section 1033 controls travelling of the relevantvehicle based on the operation plan generated by the operation plangeneration section 1031, the environment data generated by theenvironment detection section 1032 and the position information of therelevant vehicle acquired by the position information acquisitionsection 102. For example, the travel control section 1033 makes therelevant vehicle travel along the planned travel route generated by theoperation plan generation section 1031 and also makes the relevantvehicle travel so as to prevent any obstacle from falling within apredetermined safe area with the relevant vehicle as a center. Note thatfor a method for making the vehicle autonomously travel, a known methodcan be employed. The travel control section 1033 also has a functionthat controls travelling of the autonomous vehicle 100 according to aninstruction from the server apparatus 200.

Next, the server apparatus 200 will be described. The server apparatus200 is an apparatus that manages travelling positions of the autonomousvehicle 100 subject to the control of the server apparatus 200 andtransmits an operation instruction. The server apparatus 200 also has afunction that changes a delivery destination of a package according to auser location, which is a location, at a planned delivery time, of areceiving user. Such server apparatus 200 includes a communicationsection 201, a control section 202 and a storage section 203. As withthe communication section 105, the communication section 201 is acommunication interface for performing communication with the autonomousvehicle 100 via a network.

The control section 202 is means for performing control of the serverapparatus 200. The control section 202 includes, for example, a CPU. Thecontrol section 202 in the present example includes a positioninformation management section 2021, an operation instruction generationsection 2022 and a user location acquisition section 2023 as functionalmodules. Each of the functional modules may be implemented by causingthe CPU to execute a program stored in storage means such as a ROM (noneof these components illustrated).

The position information management section 2021 manages positions ofthe autonomous vehicles 100 subject to the control of the serverapparatus 200. More specifically, the position information managementsection 2021 receives position information transmitted from eachautonomous vehicle 100 in a predetermined cycle and stores the receivedposition information in the later-described storage section 203 inassociation with a time and a date.

Upon receipt of a vehicle dispatch request for dispatch of an autonomousvehicle 100 from the outside, the operation instruction generationsection 2022 determines an autonomous vehicle 100 to be dispatched andgenerates an operation instruction according to the vehicle dispatchrequest. Examples of the vehicle dispatch request include the followingbut may include others. (1) Cargo/passenger transportation request: arequest for transporting cargo or a passenger with a departure point anda destination point or a travel route designated. (2) Request fordispatch of an autonomous vehicle having a particular function: arequest for dispatch of an autonomous vehicle 100 having a function suchas an accommodation facility (hotel) for a passenger or a work space(for example, a private office or a business office) for a passenger.The autonomous vehicle 100 may be dispatched to a single spot or aplurality of spots. If the autonomous vehicle 100 is dispatched to aplurality of spots, the autonomous vehicle 100 may provide a service ateach of the plurality of spots.

The above vehicle dispatch request is acquired from, for example, a userthrough, e.g., the Internet or a telephone. Note that a source oftransmission of the vehicle dispatch request is, for example, a businessentity that performs operation of the autonomous vehicles 100, atransportation service provider that undertakes transportation of cargoor passengers or a user wishing to ride in an autonomous vehicle 100.The autonomous vehicle 100 to be a destination of transmission of theoperation instruction is determined according to, e.g. positioninformation of each vehicle acquired by the position informationmanagement section 2021 and specifications of each vehicle grasped inadvance by the server apparatus 200 (what internal/external equipmentthe vehicle has). Then, upon determination of the autonomous vehicle 100as the destination of transmission of the operation instruction, theoperation instruction generated by the operation instruction generationsection 2022 is transmitted to the autonomous vehicle 100 by thecommunication section 201.

Also, if a user location acquired by the later-described user locationacquisition section 2023 is different from a basic delivery destination,as long as the user location is within a predetermined range from anoriginal planned travel route, the operation instruction generationsection 2022 transmits an instruction for delivering a package to theuser location, in other words, an instruction for changing a deliverydestination of the package from the basic delivery destination to theuser location to the autonomous vehicle 100. On the other hand, if theuser location is different from the basic delivery destination, theoperation instruction generation section 2022 transmits an instructionfor cancelling delivery of the package to the autonomous vehicle 100unless the user location is within the predetermined range from theinitial planned travel route. The “predetermined range” mentioned hereis a range determined such that even if the delivery destination of thepackage is changed from the basic delivery destination to the userlocation, no problem occurs in package delivery service, etc., and is,for example, a range in which a distance between the planned travelroute and the user location is within a predetermined distance, a rangein which a distance between the basic delivery destination and the userlocation is within a predetermined distance or a range in which anincrease in required time due to the change of the delivery destinationof the package from the basic delivery destination to the user locationis not larger than a predetermined length of time.

The user location acquisition section 2023 acquires the user location ata predetermined timing before the autonomous vehicle 100 arrives at thebasic delivery destination. As described above, the “user location”mentioned here is not the location of the receiving user at thepredetermined timing but the location of the receiving user at a planneddelivery time. Such acquisition of the user location is performed by,for example, the server apparatus 200 communicating with a user terminalcarried by the receiving user through, e.g., the Internet. Note that theuser location may be acquired by an operator or the like inputting userlocation information obtained through a telephone conversation with thereceiving user to the server apparatus 200. Note that the “predeterminedtiming” mentioned here is, e.g., a timing at which time left before theplanned delivery time of the package becomes no more than apredetermined length of time, a timing at which a travelling position ofthe autonomous vehicle 100 enters a range that is a predetermineddistance from the basic delivery destination or a timing at which theautonomous vehicle 100 departs from a predetermined departure point (forexample, a distribution center or a delivery destination of a packagedelivered last) toward the basic delivery destination. The user locationacquired by the above-described method is provided from the userlocation acquisition section 2023 to the operation instructiongeneration section 2022.

The storage section 203 is means for storing information and includes astorage medium such as a RAM, a magnetic disk or a flash memory. In thestorage section 203 in the present example, operation plan informationpieces for the individual autonomous vehicles 100 are stored and theoperation plan information pieces and identification information piecesof the individual autonomous vehicles 100 are associated with eachother. Here, an example configuration of the operation plan informationstored in the storage section 203 will be described with reference toFIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of anoperation plan information table. Note that information piecesregistered in the operation plan information table are not limited tothose in the example illustrated in FIG. 3 and appropriate addition,change and deletion of fields are possible. The operation planinformation table illustrated in FIG. 3 includes fields of vehicle ID,travel route, position information, reception time and date, start time,package ID, delivery destination, contact information, delivery time,and status. Vehicle identification information pieces for identifyingrespective autonomous vehicles 100 are input to vehicle ID fields.Information pieces indicating respective planned travel routesdetermined when the operation plan generation sections 1031 of theautonomous vehicles 100 generated respective operation plans are inputto travel route fields. Position information pieces received by theposition information management section 2021 from the respectiveautonomous vehicles 100 are input to position information fields. Eachof the position information pieces input to the position informationfields may be, for example, information indicating an address of a siteat which the relevant autonomous vehicle 100 is located or informationindicating coordinates on a map (a latitude and a longitude), of thesite at which the relevant autonomous vehicle 100 is located. Respectivetimes and dates of reception of the position information pieces input tothe position information fields, by the position information managementsection 2021 from the respective autonomous vehicles 100 are input toreception time/day fields. Note that each of the information piecesinput to the position information fields and the reception time/dayfields is updated each time the position information management section2021 receives a position information piece from the relevant autonomousvehicle 100 (in the above-mentioned predetermined cycle). Planned timesfor the respective autonomous vehicles 100 to depart from respectivedelivery start sites are input to start time fields. Packageidentification information pieces for identifying packages to bedelivered by the respective autonomous vehicles 100 are input to packageID fields. Information pieces indicating basic delivery destinations ofrespective packages are input to delivery destination fields. Theinformation piece input to each of the delivery destination fields maybe information indicating an address of a site at which the relevantbasic delivery destination is located or information indicatingcoordinates on a map (a latitude and a longitude), of the site at whichthe relevant basic delivery destination is located. Information piecesindicating contact information pieces of receiving users of therespective packages (for example, e-mail addresses of user terminalscarried by the receiving users) are input to contact information fields.Planned times of arrival of the respective autonomous vehicles 100 atthe delivery destinations of the respective packages are input toplanned delivery time fields. Information pieces each indicating whetheror not deliver of the relevant package is completed are input to statusfields. For example, if delivery of the package has not been completed,“under delivery” is input, and if delivery of the package has beencompleted, “delivered” is input. Note that in the example illustrated inFIG. 3 , information pieces relating to two packages are associated withone vehicle identification information piece. The above indicates thattwo packages are delivered by one autonomous vehicle 100. One or threeor more information pieces of packages may be associated with onevehicle identification information piece. In short, it is only necessarythat the number of package information pieces, the number correspondingto the number of packages to be delivered by an autonomous vehicle 100,be associated with vehicle identification information of the autonomousvehicle 100. Also, although in the example illustrated in FIG. 3 , thedelivery destinations of the two packages are different from each other,the delivery destinations of the two packages may be the same.

Flow of Processing

Here, the flow of processing performed in the server apparatus 200 whenoperation of the autonomous vehicle 100 used as a package deliveryvehicle is managed will be described with reference to FIG. 4 . FIG. 4is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing repeatedly performedin the server apparatus 200 when an autonomous vehicle 100 used as apackage delivery vehicle is made to operate according to an operationplan.

In FIG. 4 , the user location acquisition section 2023 of the serverapparatus 200 determines whether or not a current point of time is apredetermined timing (timing for acquiring a user location) (step S101).For example, the user location acquisition section 2023 accesses theoperation plan information table in the storage section 203 and reads aplanned delivery time of a package to be delivered next by theautonomous vehicle 100. Then, if the current point of time falls withina range that is within a predetermined length of time before the planneddelivery time, the user location acquisition section 2023 determinesthat the current point of time is the predetermined timing (affirmativedetermination in step S101). As another method, if a travelling positionof the autonomous vehicle 100 falls within a range that is not longerthan a predetermined distance from a basic delivery destination of thepackage to be delivered next, the user location acquisition section 2023may determine that the current point of time is the predeterminedtiming. In such case, the user location acquisition section 2023 firstaccesses the operation plan information table and reads a planned travelroute registered in the relevant travel route field, positioninformation registered in the relevant position information field andbasic delivery destination information registered in a deliverydestination field for the package to be delivered next. Subsequently,the user location acquisition section 2023 performs an arithmeticoperation to obtain a distance between the position of the autonomousvehicle 100 and the basic delivery destination based on the plannedtravel route, the position information and the basic deliverydestination information. Then, if the distance between the position ofthe autonomous vehicle 100 and the basic delivery destination is notlonger than the predetermined distance, the user location acquisitionsection 2023 may determine that the current point of time is thepredetermined timing. Also, the user location acquisition section 2023may determine that the current point of time is the predeterminedtiming, at a timing for departure of the autonomous vehicle 100 from apredetermined departure point. In this case, if the package to bedelivered next is a package to be delivered first after departure from adelivery start site, the user location acquisition section 2023 maydetermine that the current point of time is the predetermined timing, atthe timing for departure of the autonomous vehicle 100 from the deliverystart site (that is, a timing at which the current time reaches a timeregistered in the relevant start time field of the operation planinformation table). Also, the package to be delivered next is a packageto be delivered second or later after departure from the delivery startsite, the user location acquisition section 2023 may determine that thecurrent point of time is the predetermined timing, at a timing ofreception of information of completion of delivery of a packagedelivered last from the autonomous vehicle 100.

If a negative determination is made in step S101 above, the processingflow ends temporarily. On the other hand, if an affirmativedetermination is made in step S101 above, the user location acquisitionsection 2023 acquires a user location for the package to be deliverednext (step S102). More specifically, the user location acquisitionsection 2023 accesses the operation plan information table and readscontact information (e.g., an e-mail address of a user terminal carriedby the relevant receiving user) registered in the relevant contactinformation field for the package to be delivered next and a planneddelivery time registered in the relevant delivery time field.Subsequently, the user location acquisition section 2023 transmitsinformation intended to inquire the location, at the planned deliverytime, of the receiving user to the user terminal of the receiving user.In response, information indicating the location, at the planneddelivery time, of the receiving user is transmitted from the userterminal to the server apparatus 200, whereby the user location isacquired.

The user location acquisition section 2023 determines whether or not theuser location acquired in step S102 above is the same as the basicdelivery destination (step S103). If the user location is the same asthe basic delivery destination (affirmative determination in step S103),the processing flow ends. In that case, the autonomous vehicle 100delivers the package to be delivered next to the basic deliverydestination. Consequently, the receiving user can receive the package atthe basic delivery destination. On the other hand, if the user locationis different from the basic delivery destination (negative determinationin step S103), the user location acquisition section 2023 determineswhether or not the user location is within a predetermined range fromthe planned travel route of the autonomous vehicle 100 (step S104). Forexample, the user location acquisition section 2023 first reads theplanned travel route registered in the relevant travel route field inthe operation plan information table and performs an arithmeticoperation to obtain a distance between the planned travel route and theuser location. The “distance between the planned travel route and theuser location” mentioned here is a length of a shortest path from amongpaths connecting the planned travel route and the user location.Subsequently, if the distance between the planned travel route and theuser location is not longer than a predetermined distance, the userlocation acquisition section 2023 may determine that the user locationis within the predetermined range from the planned travel route of theautonomous vehicle 100. The “predetermined distance” mentioned here is adistance determined such that even if the delivery destination of thepackage is changed from the basic delivery destination to the userlocation, no problem occurs in package delivery service, etc. In otherwords, the “predetermined distance” is a distance determined such thateven if the delivery destination of the package is changed from thebasic delivery destination to the user location, the autonomous vehicle100 can arrive at the user location at a time that is substantially thesame as the planned delivery time. As another method, if a distancebetween the basic delivery destination and the user location is notlonger than a predetermined distance, the user location acquisitionsection 2023 may determine that the user location is within thepredetermined range from the planned travel route of the autonomousvehicle 100. Also, if an increase in required time due to the change ofthe delivery destination of the package from the basic deliverydestination to the user location is not larger than a predeterminedlength of time, the user location acquisition section 2023 may determinethat the user location is within the predetermined range from theplanned travel route of the autonomous vehicle 100.

If an affirmative determination is made in step S104 above, theoperation instruction generation section 2022 of the server apparatus200 generates an instruction for delivering the package to be deliverednext to the user location acquired in step S102 above and transmits thegenerated instruction to the autonomous vehicle 100 (step S105). Inother words, the operation instruction generation section 2022 generatesan instruction intended to change the delivery destination of thepackaged to be delivered next from the basic delivery destination to theuser location (delivery destination change instruction) and transmitsthe generated delivery destination change instruction to the autonomousvehicle 100. Upon reception of such delivery destination changeinstruction, the operation plan generation section 1031 of theautonomous vehicle 100 changes the planned travel route of the relevantvehicle from a route including the basic delivery destination to a routeincluding the user location. Then, the travel control section 1033 ofthe autonomous vehicle 100 makes the relevant vehicle travel along thechanged planned travel route. Consequently, the autonomous vehicle 100can deliver the package to be delivered next to the user location.Therefore, even where the receiving user moves from the basic deliverydestination, the receiving user can receive the package at a destinationof the movement of the receiving user as long as such destination iswithin the predetermined range from the original planned travel route.As a result, the need for the autonomous vehicle 100 to performredelivery is eliminated and restriction of movement of the user iscurbed.

If a negative determination is made in step S104 above, the operationinstruction generation section 2022 of the server apparatus 200generates an instruction for cancelling delivery of the package to bedelivered next (delivery cancellation instruction) and transmits thegenerated delivery cancellation instruction to the autonomous vehicle100 (step S106). Upon reception of the delivery cancellationinstruction, the operation plan generation section 1031 of theautonomous vehicle 100 changes the planned travel route of the relevantvehicle to a route toward a delivery destination of a package to bedelivered after the next without passing through the deliverydestination of the package to be delivered next. Then, the travelcontrol section 1033 of the autonomous vehicle 100 makes the autonomousvehicle 100 travel along the changed planned travel route. Consequently,the autonomous vehicle 100 can deliver another package withouttravelling through a basic delivery destination at which no receivinguser is present or a user location that is excessively distant from theoriginal planned travel route. Therefore, where the receiving user movesfrom the basic delivery destination, if a destination of the movement ofthe receiving user is not located within the predetermined range fromthe original planned travel route, it is possible to curb an impact ondelivery of other packages attributable to the autonomous vehicle 100travelling via the user location.

According to the above-described example, where a package is deliveredusing the autonomous vehicle 100, even where a receiving user moves froma basic delivery destination, the package can be delivered to adestination of the movement of the receiving user. As a result,restricting movement of the receiving user and the autonomous vehicle100 performing redelivery are curbed. Therefore, it is possible to curba decrease in convenience for the user or a decrease in deliveryefficiency for the autonomous vehicle 100. Also, where the receivinguser moves from the basic delivery destination, if a destination of themovement of the receiving user is excessively distant from the originalplanned travel route, delivery of a package addressed to the receivinguser is cancelled, curbing causing an obstacle to delivery of otherpackages. Therefore, the present example enables curving a decrease inconvenience for the receiving user and a decrease in delivery efficiencyfor the autonomous vehicle 100 while keeping a balance between theconvenience for the receiving user and the delivery efficiency for theautonomous vehicle 100.

Alteration of Embodiment

Although the above embodiment has been described in terms of an examplebased on the premise that a user location is an immobile site, a casewhere a user location is another autonomous vehicle such as a transitbus or an on-demand taxi is conceivable. In such case, it is necessaryto cause the autonomous vehicle that delivers a package and the otherautonomous vehicle that the receiving user rides in to meet at a propersite to deliver the package.

Therefore, the server apparatus 200 is configured so as to, if a userlocation is another autonomous vehicle, determine a meeting point and ameeting time of meeting between the autonomous vehicle 100 that performsdelivery of a package and the other autonomous vehicle that a receivinguser rides in and transmit an instruction for causing both vehicles tomeet at the determined meeting point at the determined meeting time toboth vehicles. Consequently, even if a user location is the otherautonomous vehicle, it is possible to deliver a package to the receivinguser.

Here, in the present alternation, the flow of processing performed inthe server apparatus 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and6 . FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts illustrating the flow of processingrepeatedly performed in the server apparatus 200 when making theautonomous vehicle 100 used as a package delivery vehicle operateaccording to an operation plan. Note that in FIGS. 5 and 6 , processingsteps that are similar to those in FIG. 4 are provided with referencenumerals that are the same as those in FIG. 4 .

First, in FIG. 5 , if a negative determination is made in step S103, auser location acquisition section 2023 of the server apparatus 200determines whether or not a user location acquired in step S102 isanother autonomous vehicle (step S201). If a negative determination ismade in step S201, as described in the above example, the serverapparatus 200 performs processing in steps S104 to S106. On the otherhand, if an affirmative determination is made in step S201, theprocessing performed in the server apparatus 200 proceeds to theprocessing flow in FIG. 6 .

In the processing flow in FIG. 6 , the user location acquisition section2023 of the server apparatus 200 estimates a position, at a planneddelivery time of a package, of the other autonomous vehicle (step S202).For example, the user location acquisition section 2023 may estimate theposition, at the planned delivery time, of the other autonomous vehiclebased on, e.g., the position of the other autonomous vehicle, atravelling speed of the other autonomous vehicle and/or the currenttime. Note that if the other autonomous vehicle is a vehicle thatoperates on a prescribed route according to a prescribed time schedulelike a transit bus, respective positions of stops at which the otherautonomous vehicle is planned to stop before and after the planneddelivery time may be acquired.

The user location acquisition section 2023 determines whether or not theposition of the other autonomous vehicle estimated in step S202 above(estimated position) is within a predetermined range from a plannedtravel route of the autonomous vehicle 100 that delivers the package(step S203). A procedure for the determination in such case is similarto that in step S104 above. However, it is assumed that the“predetermined range” in the present alteration is set to be a range inwhich the autonomous vehicle 100 that delivers the package can arrive atthe estimated position by the planned delivery time (or a time ofarrival of the other autonomous vehicle at the stop that is theestimated position).

If an affirmative determination is made in step S203 above, an operationinstruction generation section 2022 generates a meeting instruction andtransmits the generated meeting instruction to the other autonomousvehicle and the autonomous vehicle 100 (step S204). The “meetinginstruction” mentioned here is an instruction for causing the otherautonomous vehicle and the autonomous vehicle 100 to meet at the meetingpoint at the meeting time. In the present alteration, it is assumedthat: as the meeting time, the planned delivery time of the package isused; and as the meeting point, the estimated position is used. Uponreception of such meeting instruction, the operation plan generationsection 1031 of the autonomous vehicle 100 changes a planned travelroute for the relevant vehicle from a route including a basic deliverydestination to a route including the meeting point. Then, the travelcontrol section 1033 of the autonomous vehicle 100 causes the relevantvehicle to travel along the changed planned travel route. Consequently,the autonomous vehicle 100 can deliver the package to the meeting point.On the other hand, upon reception of the meeting instruction, in theother autonomous vehicle, an operation plan for moving to the meetingpoint by the meeting time is generated and the other autonomous vehicleis made to travel according to the operation plan. Consequently, theother autonomous vehicle can wait for meeting with the autonomousvehicle 100 at the meeting point. Then, upon the autonomous vehicle 100and the other autonomous vehicle meeting at the meeting point at themeeting time, the package can be delivered from the autonomous vehicle100 to the receiving user. Note that if the autonomous vehicle 100 andthe other autonomous vehicle have respective mechanisms that can bejoined to each other while traveling, delivery of the package may beperformed by both vehicles being joined to each other while traveling.

The above-described alteration enables provision of effects that aresimilar to those of the above-described embodiment even if a userlocation is another autonomous vehicle.

Others

Note that the above-described embodiment is definitely a mere exampleand the present disclosure can be carried out with arbitrary changesmade thereto without departing from the spirit of the disclosure.

In addition, any combination of the processing and means described inthe present disclosure is possible as long as such combination has notechnical contradiction. Furthermore, processing described as beingperformed by a single apparatus may be shared by a plurality ofapparatuses. Alternatively, processes described as being performed bydifferent apparatuses may be performed by a single apparatus. In thecomputer system, what hardware configuration is employed forimplementing each function can flexibly be changed.

Also, the present disclosure can be carried out by providing aninformation processing program for implementing the functions describedin the above embodiment to a computer and causing one or more processorsincluded in the computer to read and execute the information processingprogram. The information processing program may be provided to thecomputer via a non-transitory storage medium that is connectable to asystem bus of the computer or may be provided to the computer via anetwork. The non-transitory storage medium is a recording medium thatcan electrically, magnetically, optically, mechanically or chemicallystore information such as data and programs and allows such informationto be read via, e.g., a computer, and is, for example, a medium such asany type of disk, for example, a magnetic disk (a floppy (registeredtrademark) disk or a hard disk drive (HDD)) or an optical disc (aCD-ROM, a DVD or a Blu-ray Disc), a read-only memory (ROM), a randomaccess memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flashmemory, an optical card or an SSD (solid-state drive).

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for managing operation of anautonomous vehicle that delivers a package, the apparatus comprising acontrol section configured to: before the autonomous vehicle arrives ata basic delivery destination that is a delivery destination of thepackage, acquire a location, at a planned delivery time of the package,of a user that receives the package, and when the location is differentfrom the basic delivery destination, transmit an operation instructionto the autonomous vehicle to cause the autonomous vehicle to deliver thepackage to the location.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe control section is further configured to, when the location isdifferent from the basic delivery destination, transmit an instructionfor cancelling delivery of the package to the autonomous vehicle unlessthe location is within a predetermined range from the basic deliverydestination.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when thelocation is different from the basic delivery destination and thelocation is another autonomous vehicle that is different from theautonomous vehicle that delivers the package, the control section isfurther configured to: determine a meeting point and a meeting time ofmeeting between the autonomous vehicle and the other autonomous vehicle;and transmit an instruction to the autonomous vehicle and the otherautonomous vehicle, which is intended to cause the autonomous vehicleand the other autonomous vehicle to meet at the meeting point at themeeting time.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controlsection is further configured to acquire the location at a timing atwhich a remaining time left before the planned delivery time of thepackage becomes no more than a predetermined length of time.
 5. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control section is furtherconfigured to acquire the location at a timing at which a position ofthe autonomous vehicle enters a range that is a predetermined distancefrom the basic delivery destination.
 6. The apparatus according to claim1, wherein the control section is further configured to acquire thelocation at a timing at which the autonomous vehicle departs from apredetermined departure point toward the basic delivery destination. 7.A method for managing operation of an autonomous vehicle that delivers apackage, the method comprising causing a computer to perform steps of:before the autonomous vehicle arrives at a basic delivery destinationthat is a delivery destination of the package, acquiring a location, ata planned delivery time of the package, of a user that receives thepackage, and when the location is different from the basic deliverydestination, transmitting an operation instruction to the autonomousvehicle to cause the autonomous vehicle to deliver the package to thelocation.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, when the locationis different from the basic delivery destination, transmitting aninstruction for cancelling delivery of the package to the autonomousvehicle unless the location is within a predetermined range from thebasic delivery destination.
 9. The method according to claim 7, whereinwhen the location is different from the basic delivery destination andthe location is another autonomous vehicle that is different from theautonomous vehicle that delivers the package, determining a meetingpoint and a meeting time of meeting between the autonomous vehicle andthe other autonomous vehicle; and transmitting an instruction to theautonomous vehicle and the other autonomous vehicle, which is intendedto cause the autonomous vehicle and the other autonomous vehicle to meetat the meeting point at the meeting time.
 10. The method according toclaim 7, further comprising acquiring the location at a timing at whicha remaining time left before the planned delivery time of the packagebecomes no more than a predetermined length of time.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 7, further comprising acquiring the location at atiming at which a position of the autonomous vehicle enters a range thatis a predetermined distance from the basic delivery destination.
 12. Themethod according to claim 7, further comprising acquiring the locationat a timing at which the autonomous vehicle departs from a predetermineddeparture point toward the basic delivery destination.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores a programcausing a processor to execute a control process for managing operationof an autonomous vehicle that delivers a package, wherein the controlprocess comprises: before the autonomous vehicle arrives at a basicdelivery destination that is a delivery destination of the package,acquiring a location, at a planned delivery time of the package, of auser that receives the package, and when the location is different fromthe basic delivery destination, transmitting an operation instruction tothe autonomous vehicle to cause the autonomous vehicle to deliver thepackage to the location.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium according to claim 13, wherein the control processfurther comprises: when the location is different from the basicdelivery destination, transmitting an instruction for cancellingdelivery of the package to the autonomous vehicle unless the location iswithin a predetermined range from the basic delivery destination. 15.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim13, wherein the control process further comprises: when the location isdifferent from the basic delivery destination and the location isanother autonomous vehicle that is different from the autonomous vehiclethat delivers the package, determining a meeting point and a meetingtime of meeting between the autonomous vehicle and the other autonomousvehicle; and transmitting an instruction to the autonomous vehicle andthe other autonomous vehicle, which is intended to cause the autonomousvehicle and the other autonomous vehicle to meet at the meeting point atthe meeting time.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 13, wherein the control process furthercomprises: acquiring the location at a timing at which a remaining timeleft before the planned delivery time of the package becomes no morethan a predetermined length of time.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein thecontrol process further comprises: acquiring the location at a timing atwhich a position of the autonomous vehicle enters a range that is apredetermined distance from the basic delivery destination.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 13,wherein the control process further comprises: acquiring the location ata timing at which the autonomous vehicle departs from a predetermineddeparture point toward the basic delivery destination.